Hats entertainment

For milliner/designer Mich Dulce, the idea to put on a hat exhibit came upon her when her hat-wearing idol, British magazine editor Isabella Blow, committed suicide last May.

Depressed, but wanting to channel her energy into positive creativity, Mich got together with her friends Ryan Vergara and Garovs Garovillo of everywhereweshoot.com to mount a fashion-for-a-cause with MAC, or Make-up Art Cosmetics.

Turns out MAC actually had a bright red lipstick named after Isabella called “Blow.”

December 1, being Worlds AIDS Day, became the target date for the event, which was held right in front of the MAC store in Glorietta.

Guests were invited to wear hats to a tea party and photo exhibit featuring her friends from show biz and other fields, while the MAC counter sold Viva Glam lipsticks benefiting the MAC AIDS Fund.

Apparently, 100 percent of the selling price of Viva Glam goes to the fund, which has donated more than $100 million globally towards programs, services and care for people affected by AIDS/HIV.

Mich’s training in theatrical millinery began at Central Saint Martins in London, under the assistant of Philip Treacy, the milliner who considered Isabella Blow his muse.

“My teachers were like, why do you want to do funny shapes? Cause everyone wants to do normal shapes. I did hats with folds and crinkled hats from stiffened fabrics,” Mich said.

“My hats are textured. It’s harder for me to come up with a normal hat than a strange hat. I would describe my hats as geometric. I like circles!”

Favored materials are wire and felt, local sinamay, and lots of feathers.

“Due to the third-world crisis, meaning we don’t have real materials, we had to import or improvise with craft-store felt, because they don’t have proper hat-making felt here.”

Mich tapped friends from fields ranging from show biz to politics to wear her hats, along with pieces from her archives, and shot most of them in their environments.

“We tried to present them in a way they’re not typically viewed, like Anne (Curtis) is always pa-sweet, so we wanted her fasyon. Her hat is made of wire, fabric and swirly bits.

“Si Tessa naman is over-the-top crazy, so we decided to put her in a structured and tailored outfit.”

Tessa’s portrait is my favorite.

When Mich told her about their intention to put her in a beige dress, Tessa said, “Are you serious?”

Because Tessa doesn’t own simple studs, they had to borrow from the makeup artist. The location was a part of Tessa’s house that was not colorful.

Gretchen Barretto wanted a specific hat to complement her short hair, so Mich came up with a cloche.

The shoot took all of 10 minutes at Gretchen’s house.

Because of her contract with Olay, Gretchen did not wear any makeup, only lipstick.

“Her skin is really like that,” Mich says.

Same with Ruffa Gutierrez, who was photographed at Store For All Seasons wearing a hat of wire and feathers.

“She looks Photoshopped, but she’s not,” Mich clarifies.

“None of our subjects were Photoshopped, only color-corrected. Amazing, isn’t it?”

Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette was the inspiration for Celine Lopez, who was photographed in her apartment wearing her own shorts with a top by Mich Dulce. Hair extensions were added to Celine’s short hair.

Representative Darlene Antonino-Custodio was shot as a wood nymph at the Jacuzzi in her home, wearing a hat made of sinamay and “basically two loops made of wire and found objects, like spray-painted vines.”

“She gave a really great speech at the event because her advocacy is repro-health, so she was really excited to join,” Mich says.

“Basta yung akin, gusto ko insane,” was the personal request of Gilda Cordero Fernando, who was shot in her bedroom. Because she’s a writer, Mich let her wear a hat made of newspaper, along with Mich’s tabloid dress.

City Councilor Lala Sotto looks amazing, shot at a construction site outside her home. Because she’s really white, the concept for her was Snow White.

“I use Rissa Samson for all my projects,” Mich says of her former school and cheerleading mate from Poveda.

“Her hat was the most difficult and the most ‘tetanus’ ever. We used wire mesh and had to pad it inside, for protection.

We gave her the oddest shape and made her do the hard pose because she’s the model. We shot her in Fiamma.”

Rufa Mae Quinto was photographed in a sinamay hat in between tapings for her Whammy game show at Broadway Centrum.

“Her concept was like Hollywood glam, because she’s funny. So we made her serious.”

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To order, contact Mich Dulce at 0917-895-1743.